City of Brotherly Love: Run LaSalle, Run

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2015 NCAA Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Final Four



Michigan (1) 82 vs. Louisville (3) 66



Kentucky (3) 62 vs. UConn (1) 77



National Title Game


Michigan (1) 67 vs. UConn(1) 61


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2014/2015 La Salle Season Recap

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Overall Record: 23-10


Atlantic 10 Record: 13-3


RPI: 45

Lou Smith drafted 52nd in the NBA Draft

Dion Tyler- Atlantic 10 Coach of The Year
David Smallwood- Atlantic 10 Player of The Year
David Smallwood-Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of The Year
David Smallwood – Atlantic 10 1st Team
Keith Riley – Atlantic 10 2nd Team



Aaron Edwards drafted 53 in 2014 draft

Recruiting – 6 Scholarships available, this year we were able to use every scholarship. Though we missed on some of our prime targets I’ am happy with this incoming class.

• Jesse Howe from Marshall, North Carolina is the 33rd ranked player in the nation. Using our connections into the JuCo ranks helped us to secure Howe. Though he is only 6’7 he is a beast on the boards. A great athlete whose ability to run the court will get him plenty of easy baskets in our system.



• Richard Roach is a 6’6 shooting guard from Wilmington, North Carolina. He attended Laney High School . . . . . . hmm interesting. No he isn’t Michael Jordan but he is a good player who we also got from the JuCo ranks. Richard will be expected to fill the void left by David Smallwood. He is the 36th ranked player in the country.



• Marcus Romar stands 6’10, the Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania native is a bruiser in the paint. A true center he has very good hands and will provide a post presence for us. Romar is ranked the 71st best player in the country.


• Gerrick Wright rounds out the later of our 3 JuCo transfers. The 6-8 small forward hails from Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Good athlete, good shooter, good scorer we fell his versatility will be an asset for us. He is the 73rd ranked player in the nation.



• Mike Williams is a 6-3 point guard from Wilmington, Delaware. At 6-3 we like his size for the position, and it allows him to play a bit as a combo guard. He is a solid ball handler who has good range on his shot. He will see some minutes next season as he will be the only true point guard on the roster. Mike is ranked as the 123rd best player in the country.



• Dave LaRue is a 6-2 shooting guard from McKeesport, Pennsylvania. Though he was ranked 687 in the nation we love his toughness. He is a pit bull on defense, who averaged 2.3 steals and 3.1 blocks per game. He also averaged 6.5 rebounds as a 6-2 guard. Offensively he shows promise.


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La Salle 2014 /2015 Season Stats

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] PPG
1. David Smallwood 18.4
2. Keith Riley 9.0
3. Lou Smith 7.4



RPG
1. Keith Riley 6.5
2. David Smallwood 5.2
3. Clyde Nielsen 4.7



APG
1. Lou Smith 3.9



SPG
1. David Smallwood 1.5
2. Keith Riley 1.0
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[TheShow23]

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2015/2016 La Salle Explorers Roster

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Starting Lineup


*Denotes Returning Starter

Mike Williams 6-3 Freshman PG 1/4
Richard Roach 6-5 Junior SG 4.5/5
Gerrick Wright 6-8 Junior SF 4/4.5
*Jeff Donovan 6-6 Senior PF 4/4.5
*Keith Riley 6-8 Sophomore C 3.5/4

Bench

Jesse Howe 6-7 Junior PF 4/5
Clyde Nielsen 6-11 Sophomore RS PF 3/4
Tega Lee 6-7 Junior PF 2/4
Marcus Romar 6-10 Freshman C 3.5/4.5
Ben Anderson 6-0 Sophomore SG 1/3.5
Ruben Carter 6-0 Junior RS SG 1.5/4
Brian Stone 6-8 Sophomore RS SF 1.5/3.5
Quincy Rand 6-2 Senior RS SG 2.5/2.5


Redshirt

Dave LaRue 6-2 Freshman SG 1/4
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2015/2016 Non Conference Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]Breaking in a Freshman point guard who probably wasn’t ready to start, having a new set of starting perimeter players, and mixing and matching 12-13 players a game led to some early season growing pains. Games at (5) Florida and home against (23) Wisconsin highlighted the slate. Other games against BCS Conference teams included road games at Washington, Arkansas, Auburn and home games against Iowa and Depaul.



In a 76-75 win against Arkansas-Little Rock, Jeff Donovan hit a game winning shot tipping in a missed shot before time expired. The very next game we fell victim to a game winning shot in a tough 78-79 loss at Washington. The Washington loss was extra tough as we were up 14 at one point and missed 8 shots from the free throw line. The low point of the season came in a 76-65 home loss to Penn. At one point we were down 21 points and our fans began booing us out of our building.



After years of trying we finally got a ranked opponent to come to Philadelphia to play. A 78-47 win against (23) Wisconsin showed the potential of the team. The game wasn’t even close as the athletes we have overwhelmed Wisconsin. Never trailing in the game we led 43-25 at halftime and continued to increase our lead in the second half. Richard Roach led the way with 27 points and 7 rebounds. Jesse Howe had a double-double with 14and 10, while Gerrick Wright had 15 points and 6 rebounds.



A three game losing streak at the end of the non-conference schedule made our record 5-6 overall.
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2015/2016 Atlantic 10 Review

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[font="Comic Sans MS"]One of the benefits of having the depth we have is players are accustomed to playing, so when we get an unexpected boost it isn’t a surprise. In the second game of conference play Jesse Howe came off the bench to record a double-double, 19 and 11 in a 90-86 overtime win at George Washington. In the overtime he led the way scoring 8 points. Mike Williams has been much maligned this season but he has never lost the true of his teammates and coaches. In a 71-67 win at Dayton he scored 9 points and handed out 7 assists. He was clutch in the last minute of the game going 6 for 6 from the free throw line to secure the victory. Against fellow Big 5 rivals St. Joseph’s Ruben Carter scored 12 points on 4 for 4 shooting to spark us to a 85-74 win.



Richard Roach has been our leading scorer this season, though the staff would like his shooting percentage to improve he has replaced the scoring lost with David Smallwood’s graduation. There’s more to Richard than just his ability to score, his defense has been excellent and during league play he showed other talents. In a 78-65 win versus Xavier Richard scored 22 and grabbed 12 rebounds. Against Rhode Island he scored 19 and grabbed 13 rebounds in a 77-56 win. In a tough 65-59 win at UMass he grabbed 12 rebounds in addition to his 19 points.



We went 13-3 in Atlantic 10 play to finish the regular season with a 18-9 record.
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2016 Atlantic 10 Tournament

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[font="Comic Sans MS"](1) La Salle Explorers vs. (8) Xavier Musketeers


In the end the 70-60 final score wasn’t an accurate measure of the game, we were up 21 late win I emptied the bench allowing Xavier make the final score more respectable. Offensively it wasn’t our best game, we only shot 36.8% from the field. It was the defense which won this game, we held Xavier to 30.8% shooting and forced 15 turnovers. Richard Roach spearheaded the efforts on defense recording 4 steals. Offensively Richard’s 15 and Gerrick Wright’s 12 points led the way. Mike Williams did a great job running the show as he only had 1 turnover.



La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 15 points 5 rebounds 4 steals.


(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (4) UMass Minutemen


Down 25-10 midway through the first half the players looked to be in a state of shock. UMass had blitzed us and seeing how we respond would be interesting. We got back into the game to make it close heading into halftime. Trailing 35-33 at halftime a feeling a déjà vu seemed to be creeping into the minds of the players. After winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament title my first season we have failed to win it since. Each year we have been a high seeded team only to be knocked out in the semifinals of the tournament. We needed a spark and Richard Roach provided one, after settling for jump shots in the first half he was intent to attack the rim in the second half. Play after play he would attack either scoring or getting to the foul line. His intensity sparked a 25-5 run in the second half which put us in control for good. In a 70-61 win, Richard scored 27 points getting to the foul line 15 times. He also added 10 rebounds.



La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 27 points 10 rebounds.


(1) La Salle Explorers vs. (11) Charlotte 49ers


One team was expected to be here, one team was not expected to be here. While we were business like in getting to the final, Charlotte captured the interest of the locals by going on a shocking run to get to the final. Having a deeper team and having played one less game our plan was simple, wear Charlotte out. They didn’t get that memo as they came out firing led by their point guard Nick Swanson. His 11 first half points put Charlotte into a 29-27 with 1:15 left in the first half. Our response was swift, Richard Roach hit a three, we got a steal and Jeff Donovan got a dunk. After a Charlotte miss Gerrick Wright scored on a back cut to give us a 34-29 lead heading into halftime. Swanson along with Reginald Coffey keep Charlotte close until the 8 minute mark, leading 57-53 we ran off 16 straight points to put us up 73-53. Finally after years of heartbreak we once again won the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 78-68 victory.


La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 23 points 8 rebounds.

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2016 NCAA Tournament



South Region



2nd Round

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (10) La Salle Explorers vs. (7) Weber State Wildcats

Weber State shot 18 for 50 from the field. They shot 2/15 from the three point line and they had 16 turnovers. Holding Weber State to those numbers meant we were advancing to the 3rd Round of the NCAA Tournament. Leading 41-26 at halftime our lead bloomed up to 30 points in the second half en route to a 67-52 win. In his very first NCAA Tournament game, Mike Williams was very efficient. He scored 6 points on 3 for 3 shooting, had 5 assists and 0 turnovers. Gerrick Wright led the attack with 18 points while Richard Roach chipped in with 14 points.




La Salle Player of The Game: Gerrick Wright 18 points.

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[TheShow23]

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2016 NCAA Tournament



South Region



3rd Round

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (10) La Salle Explorers vs. (2) Duke Blue Devils



Last season we knocked Duke out of the NCAA Tournament so it was no reason we didn’t feel we could do the same this season. For North Carolina natives Richard Roach and Jesse Howe this game had extra significance, both grew up North Carolina fans so they hate Duke with a passion. Late in the first half the score was tied at 30 when Duke closed the first half on an 8-0 run. Vintage Duke, a team hangs around only to get hit with a late first half run. Usually teams fold in that scenario but Richard Roach would not allow for it. He scored the first 12 points of the second half singlehandedly outscoring Duke 12-4 to tie the score at 42. Trailing 74-72 late in the game Duke forced the ball out of Richard’s hand, the ball went to Mike Williams and the Freshman nailed a 15 foot jump shot to send the game into overtime. In overtime Gerrick Wright and Jeff Donovan dominated Duke inside as we outscored them 15-4 in the overtime giving us a stunning 89-78 win. Mike sent the game into overtime, Gerrick and Jeff carried us in overtime but Richard Roach won us the game. In a Michael Jordan like performance he scored 36 points.




La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 36 points.
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2016 NCAA Tournament



South Region



Sweet 16

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (10) La Salle Explorers vs. (3) Louisville Cardinals


The only thing standing between a Louisville-Kentucky elite 8 matchup was the La Salle Explorers. Malik Callahan was Louisville’s star player, so the strategy would be to double him and let the other players beat us. Callahan was off in the first half but the other players picked up the slack allowing Louisville to take a 38-31 lead at the half. The second half became the Richard Roach show. He started the half with a three point play, he followed up with a dunk and then another three point play. Richard could get to the rim at will so the game plan became quite simple . . . . get Richard the ball and get the heck out of his way. Louisville did everything possible to stop Richard but it did not work. At the five minute mark his layup gave us our first lead of the game. Holding on to a 66-63 lead with 38 seconds left Louisville has the chance to tie the game. We deny Callahan to ball so it gets swung around the perimeter, Gerrick Wright jumps the passing lane and steals the ball. He breaks down the court and slams home a two to put us up five. When the final whistle blows the Louisville fans in the Georgia Dome are stunned as we’re going to the Elite 8 with a 70-65 win. Richard scored 24 of his 33 points in the second half. The team as a whole handled Louisville’s pressure turning the ball over only 8 times.




La Salle Player of The Game: Richard Roach 36 points.
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2016 NCAA Tournament



South Region



Elite 8

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[font="Comic Sans MS"] (10) La Salle Explorers vs. (1) Kentucky Wildcats

Against Louisville the focus was guarding the low post, against Kentucky the focus will be guarding their perimeter players. Ike Tucker and Fred Coleman both average 17 points per game for Kentucky. Richard Roach would get the assignment of guarding Tucker while I would put Gerrick Wright on Coleman hoping Gerrick at 6’8 would disrupt Coleman with his height. We won the tip-off and Gerrick scored the first basket of the game, sadly that would be the only led we would have in the game. Offensively we were a mess, by halftime Kentucky was up 40-23 and it would only get worse. Richard Roach was held in check scoring 10 points on 3 for 11 shooting. Coleman and Tucker both shot 4 for 13 from the field but two players off their bench picked up the slack. Brett Tuohey scored 19 points on 8 of 11 shooting while Zamiro Mack scored 15 off the bench. The season ended for us with a 59-83 loss, one game short of the Final Four.




La Salle Player of The Game: Gerrick Wright 13 points.
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[JMD]

Nice Elite 8 run.